If Given The Chance
by Oh-My-Lanna
Summary: Would you take it? Would you be able to rest your faith in humanity on the outstretched hand of one person? Naruto isn't so sure about that but he has nothing left to lose. A story in which Sasuke is the one saving Naruto in his own way. SasuNaru… Rating may increase later.


**Disclaimer: **I hold no ownership over, nor do I profit from, Naruto -the animated series/manga.

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**Warning:**_ Adult themes. Language. Adult situations. _

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**Pairings: **Sasuke x Naruto... eventually.

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**IF GIVEN THE CHANCE...**

_I: Everything Happens For A Reason_

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He was going to do it.

He'd prepared for everything –the letter he'd left on his bed would be more than enough to explain why things had turned out as they had. If anyone read it. He was used to being ignored or overlooked. Used to being stepped all over no matter how bright his smile or how booming his voice.

It wasn't a secret that no one cared. He would stay awake at night wondering if there had ever been a point in time in which someone had. He'd had dreams once upon a time ago. Vast and broad and sparkling dreams in which he was surrounded by people who were so swept away with him that he was happily suffocating. In those brief illusions, he was cared for. Loved. He was happy.

As reality would have it, he wasn't happy or loved.

Some days were harder than others.

In particular, the day prior had been the worst to date. And, as it was, he wasn't as strong as he initially believed himself to be. He couldn't keep moving through life when, day after day, his hopes were shattered and his dreams bounded further off into the distance.

Grasping a joy so overwhelming that he couldn't handle it… He'd thought it a possibility. Had believed in it for a long time. But it wasn't.

It just wasn't.

So now, Naruto Uzumaki would take the final leap. As soon as night fell, he would cast himself down five floors from the roof of the school –right into the trash tub out back if he did things just right. No one would know because no one cared.

And life would go on. Perhaps, in his next life, he would be reborn as someone that was loved.

"How'd you get up here?"

Blond locks shook as he whipped around, gaze caught in mesmerizing dark eyes. "Huh?"

"How'd you get up here?"

Naruto opened and closed his mouth several times before he frowned. "Does it matter?"

He knew the boy standing in the doorway and staring at him with that blank expression. Sasuke Uchiha… Popular, prestigious, athletic, wealthy, intelligent, charismatic, arrogant, and a bit icy but, according to gossip, it made him all the more desirable –Sasuke Uchiha. He was the boy who sat on a comfortable throne at the top of their school social ladder (right beside his eldest brother) and he was merely an 8th grader. Almost a freshman. But he had promise and potential and that's what people thrived on. They aspired to be around him or to be him. Naruto didn't blame them. Sasuke had and was everything that he wanted in himself as well.

"It doesn't." Sasuke shrugged and allowed the door to shut behind him.

Naruto watched him, his mind moving in a frenzied panic as Sasuke walked across the roof to stand beside him against the railing. When he pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket, Naruto was entirely caught off guard.

"Want one?"

He shook his head. He had his own pack with two sticks of a-cancer-that-he-would-never-get in his own back pocket.

"You got a light?"

He did. When he lit Sasuke's cigarette, he couldn't help but to stare at the last person he would ever expect to be standing beside him, cigarette dangling from thin lips.

Black eyes appraised him carefully before Sasuke exhaled a stream of smoke and raised a dark brow, "What? I don't look like the type to smoke?"

Naruto scoffed. "Honestly, I don't give two shits about your bad habits." How could he care about someone else and their problems when he had his own.

One of which being the fact that he was still resolved to end his life that night. To end everything and move on to the next life peacefully. He could only pray that he'd find what he was looking for there. There. With his parents. With his grandparents. He would be happy _there_.

"That's a first." Sasuke flicked the ash over the railing, his gaze never once straying from Naruto. "Are you new?"

That genuine inquisition threw Naruto for a loop. It broadened the spectrum of his insignificance and cemented his resolve. He and Sasuke were in the same first through fourth grade classes. They had a few classes together all throughout middle school. Now, as they were set to start their freshmen year, they were supposed to share a homeroom teacher for the next four years. And yet, Sasuke was asking him if he were a new student.

The irony was so crushing he couldn't help laughing. Even as he managed to say, "Nah, I'm not new."

"Hmm…"

Silence lapsed between them as Naruto sat against the railing, gaze turned towards the sky. Mocking as it was, the world was still beautiful. Thriving. He closed his eyes and basked in the sunlight –allowed it to soak into him as the wind brushed across his skin. It was the cusp of summer. That small in-between transition from spring. Relishing in his last day of school up on the roof and enjoying what he could of the summer before it was all over… oddly enough, he felt a bit free. He didn't have to worry or care about any of the worldly things that he felt far too young to handle. At least, not anymore.

"What's your story?"

One bright blue eye cracked open to spot Sasuke moving to sit beside him. "My story's not important and you probably don't care anyway so I'll do us both a favor by not sharing it."

"You're right. But I'm curious –humor me." It wasn't a request so much as it was a demand.

A demand that some part of Naruto –the piece that still had a firm grasp on life- wanted to give into. The nagging voice at the back of his mind was chanting _hecareshecareshecares_ on an endless loop and even if that was just a smidgen of concern, it was more than Naruto had seen in years.

Sasuke ground his cigarette into the brick and glanced at the sky. "What are you doing up here?"

"I'm thinking about what the fuck I'm gonna do with my life." Which was, in essence, the truth. "I got kicked out of my apartment last night. Which, granted, royally sucked but it was nice out and I got to sleep at the park. The only real downside was that I had to come to school this morning the same way I'd left yesterday…"

Naruto didn't particularly care about being kicked out of his apartment but he would've liked to grab his photo album. Would have liked it a lot if he could have seen those pictures of his family one last time. But everything happened for some reason or another –that he wholeheartedly believed in. And, if nothing else, he'd be seeing them soon enough.

Still, he managed a soft smile as his head lulled to the side, cobalt irises trained on Sasuke's rather passive face. "But, ya know, worse things have happened."

Sasuke snorted. "You've been through worst experiences?"

"Not everyone can live a life on a bed of roses." Naruto knew that all too well.

"Did your parents kick you out?"

It was Naruto's turn to snort. "My parents have been dead for a while now. I had my grandparents but then, they left me too." His morose and lax tone shook him a bit but the truth was always such a jarring thing.

Everyone dear to him died and he felt it was time he joined them.

A few more hours…

"Hmm… you want to stay at my place?"

"What?" The word sprung from his mouth as he stared at Sasuke slack jawed.

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't really give a fuck if you do or if you don't but I figured I'd offer."

"Why?"

Sasuke stared at him then, face as impassive as it'd been since their gazes initially met. "I felt like being generous just now but it's not going to last."

"Your parents-"

Sasuke smirked. "My dad'll be pissed but my mom will probably take pity on you. He's pussy whipped so whatever she says goes."

Ah, Naruto understood. Sasuke was one of _those_ kids. The types who liked to piss off daddy for attention. At least the guy had a dad to piss off.

Sasuke stood up and dusted himself off. "You have until I reach the door to make up your mind."

Naruto watched him as he walked across the roof and towards the door. Those seconds felt like an eternity as he chipped away at his resolve and tugged on his reserve hope for humanity. Sasuke was the last person he ever would have expected such a handout to come from but who was he to judge. A chance was presenting itself and he had nothing to lose. Nothing at all because he had already lost it all long agusually posted. o.

Before Sasuke could grasp the doorknob, Naruto jogged up to him, chest heaving and heart pounding. "Wait for me, bastard." He couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled so hard that his cheeks hurt but it felt nice.

"I'm pretty sure we just established that I'm not fatherless… moron." Sasuke's tone was light as he swung the door open. "Come on, I want to beat the bell."

When Naruto crossed the thresh hold between the outside and the staircase, he didn't bother to look backwards. It would be too tempting to not cling to the death he'd been preparing for. Far too tempting. And he wasn't that strong. He kept his focus on Sasuke. That strong back was like his sole beacon of hope –a hope that shone brightly amidst the darkness. Naruto wanted so badly to run away from it. To go back and do as he'd set his mind to do months ago. But then, Sasuke's arm brushed against his own and reeled him back to reality. Reminded him that he was being given a chance where one hadn't existed before.

Wasn't that all that he'd been waiting for? A chance? Proof that someone or something out there in the world cared about him?

He was going to assume that this was that proof and he could at least have the courage to see where it would take him.

After all, everything happened for a reason.

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**TBC**

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**Note:** How is it so far? Memorable I hope. I wanted this story to be something kind of different from what's usually posted. This is one of those stories where Sasuke is big hearted but plays it up with a bad boy facade and it's okay because Naruto knows the real Sasuke. In the end, that's all that matters.

Well, hope you guys enjoyed it so far.

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**If it's worthy, drop me a line. Otherwise, thank you so much for reading.**


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